Athearn Ready To Roll™
ACF 2970 Cu. Ft. Two Bay Center Flow Covered Hopper

HO Scale

Ready To Roll™ ACF 2970 Cu. Ft. Two Bay Center Flow Covered Hopper
MSRP $22.98

Available Sets:
3 road numbers decorated for UP/C&NW, Rock Island (Blue), Monon, Conrail, Burlington, ACF Demo, Great Northern (Gray), Burlington Northern (Gray), Chessie/WM, Northern Pacific, Great Northern (Blue), C&NW (Green), C&NW (Yellow), Erie Lackawanna, Western Maryland, BNSF (Oxide), BNSF (New, Gray)

Single cars available undecorated. MSRP $22.98

ACF Industries made their Center Flow curved side covered hopper cars in three basic sizes. Large 5600 cu ft four compartment cars were for low density materials like flour or plastics, intermediate 4700 cu ft three compartment cars were for medium weight loads like sugar or wheat, and short 2970 cu ft two compartment cars were for dense loads like cement or salt. All three types were rated at 100 tons. For all of the car types, ACF offered its customers a variety of top loading hatches and bottom unloading outlets to handle different types of loads. Top hatch options included a 20" wide full-length continuous hatch, separate long hatches over each internal compartment, 30" diameter weather-tight hatches, and 20" diameter airtight hatches. Bottom outlets included standard gravity doors, quick-dump gravity doors, gravity-pneumatic outlets, fluidized outlets, and fluidized-gravity outlets.

Models of the 4-bay car have been widely available, while models of the 3-bay and 2-bay cars have been a little harder to find. Athearn has just introduced very nice ready-to-roll models of the 2970 cu ft 2-bay ACF cars. This model uses new tooling and is based on a single injection molded body / underbody to which fine see-through metal photo-etched roof walks, end frames and other details are added. The model is factory assembled with either two long 20" wide through hatches or four 30" diameter weather-tight hatches as appropriate to the prototype. All versions come equipped with gravity type bottom outlets with nicely modeled tracks for the gates and very fine operating shafts. The under frame details also include separately applied train line and brake line air pipes. The car comes with trucks with free rolling blackened metal wheel sets and factory installed Kadee-compatible, knuckle couplers. The car weighs 4.3 oz., a little over the NMRA recommended 3.5 oz. for a car of this length.

The end frames merit special praise. The frame structural members are as close to scale size as on any HO model this reviewer has ever encountered. The rungs on the half-height ladders are cast on to the vertical supports while the full-height ladders use separately apples wire rungs. To Athearn's credit, both types of rungs appear to be the same diameter for a very pleasing, realistic affect. These are complemented by other separately applied details including eight wire grab irons at the corners of the frame, four rectangular cross-section stirrup steps, and two see-through end platforms over the coupler pockets. The end details include the air reservoir and triple valve at the B-end of the car (these cars had truck-mounted brakes), and Athearn has included the interconnecting piping between these components.

The model reviewed was Athearn stock number 93910, lettered as Erie-Lackawanna 21354. A contemporary Railway Equipment Register confirms this to be a valid number, and has a note that this car was part of a series that had interior lining. Sure enough, the very fine, crisp, legible lettering on the model includes a cautionary note about the interior lining. A photo of this very car is available on the www.rr-fallenflags.org web site. The 1992 picture shows the car later in its life with the addition of ACI plates and consolidated data stencils, but serves to confirm the accuracy of the 1967 vintage as-built lettering applied by Athearn.

This is a superb, very well detailed model of a widely used late 20th century car. To paraphrase a recent automobile commercial, this is not your father's Athearn! - Gary Quale